Brooding Mawlek

Brooding Mawlek

Theme

Location

Reward

Hunter's Journal

Ferocious but extremely social creature. Becomes aggressive if not able to mingle with its own kind.

I hear this beast crying out sometimes as I prowl the caverns, although I've never actually laid eyes on it. Who or what is it calling for? As far as I can tell, its voice is never answered.

Behaviour and Tactics

The Brooding Mawlek uses the following attacks:

Hollow Knight Boss Discussion - Brooding Mawlek

Brooding Mawlek Boss Guide Video

Slash: Brooding Mawlek will perform a downward slash towards The Knight. They only use this attack if The Knight gets too close and will use it in conjunction with other attacks.

Spit: Brooding Mawlek will spit a blob of infection in a parabolic arc. These blobs fly towards whichever side of the arena The Knight happens to be standing on. This attack can happen in conjunction with the Slash Attack.

Leap: Brooding Mawlek leaps to The Knight's location, landing where The Knight was at the beginning of their leap. Then, they immediately follow that leap with a jump back to the center of the arena.

Vomit: Brooding Mawlek will shoot a multitude of blobs of infection in a parabolic arc simultaneously. These blobs fly towards whichever side of the arena The Knight happens to be standing on at the time.

Without reach enhancement Charms, it may retaliate when hit, so it is safest to hit it a few times, and dash away when it raises its claws. It's also possible to jump over the boss, downstriking it to get to the other side.

To dodge its jump, they player needs to run quickly in whichever direction they have space to move. This is also an opportunity to hit the Mawlek, which cannot spit or slash while in the air.

Its acid wave may have small safe spots, but they're quite tiny and hard to spot, so a much safer option is to jump over the Mawlek altogether when it uses this attack.

If the player has managed to obtain the Baldur Shell and Cyclone Slash, it's possible to chip away at the Mawlek's health with the edge of Cyclone Slash, and use the SOUL gained from the attack to heal safely inside the shell.

When the Mawlek uses the Vomit attack, it is possible to safely dash over it with the Mothwing Cloak before the acid comes down.

Another Brooding Mawlek is fought as part of the Trial of Fools in the Colosseum of Fools, in a very tight area where dodging its attacks is much more difficult.